Half banana

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Posts by Half banana

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  26

  Buddhism Anyone?

  by LaurenM in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so, i have recently been delving in buddhism and i must say it all makes sense!

  like, the philosophies and ideas are what i've always believed but could never put a name to.

  for example, they don't believe in god, they teach acceptance of all faiths, that peace can be achieved - not by changing other people - but by changing yourself, that everyone has goodness in themselves, that happiness can be gained internally (not externally as a gift from god), and that life is temporary so we should enjoy it!

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  Half banana

  It sounds good just like the promise of paradise did.

  Buddha= Awakened one...the're already a lot of Buddhas around here.
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  29

  Jesus is not Michael the Archangel here is why

  by paradisebeauty in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  one of the biggest missunderstanding and unbiblical teaching of the jw's is that jesus is michael the archangel.

  here is what proffessor anthony buzzard has to say about this:.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puqzffyxno0.

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  Half banana

  The intellectual failure present here is that no one is recognising that the subject matter is religious mythology and not a matter of evidential facts. All that is possible to attempt is to make a coherent pattern from the stories of antiquity. The Bible, both Hebrew and NT are the conflation of eclectic pagan myths and by sanctifying them; religious people will look for unity even where it is flagrantly in contradiction. In mythology people and spirits fuse, they morph and become other characters...if your subjects do that: you are in myth territory.

  There can be no orthodoxy derived from them. You pays your money and you takes your choice.
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  35

  Epigenetics and Why Women are Stripey

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  take five minutes to learn something new today.... here is a very brief introduction to epigenetics with an interesting practical example.. ....

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  Half banana

  I don't yet know how useful it is ...but it's good to know that women are stripey! Thanks for info Cofty.
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  47

  Lurker - just joined

  by Je.suis.oisif in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hi all, nothing to report just now.

  wanted to add name to list of those awakening.

  been lurking for nearly a year.

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  Half banana

  Welcome to the real world Oisif (I trust you are only idle as far as JWs go!) Looking forward to hearing your story.
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  20

  Clarifying This Weeks Watchtower...CTR Reference

  by freemindfade in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  what the sunday watchtard said.... in 1876, an article written by charles taze russell was published in the magazine bible examiner.

  that article, gentile times: when do they end?, pointed to 1914 as a significant year.

  the article linked the seven times of daniels prophecy with the appointed times of the nations spoken of by jesus.. what gentile times: when do they end?

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  Half banana

  Lemonparty, a very good answer you gave at the WT study! The magazine was ambiguous but you clarified it and you might have sown some fertile seeds of doubt.

  "Jehovah helped his people to understand the timing of events". (WT)

  If one were to examine the subject in hand; its purpose, like all WT drivel, is meaningless self congratulation and reassurance. The participants being Jehovah and his people. Jehovah spoke to "his people" did he? Why then did he give them the wrong information? The wrong date? The wrong events? The same information has been brought forward repeatedly to cover the embarrassment of the wrongness of the Watchtower information and they never get anything right!
  

  Jehovah and "His people" are both in fairyland.
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  59

  Introducing Myself

  by Peony in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i've finally got round to joining the site (after over 2 years lurking!

  i was born into jws, pioneered for 10 years (met my husband at pioneer school).

  had health issues that saw me catapulted away from 'the centre of the cong' and wow what a different place that was!

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  Half banana

  Hi Peony, welcome here and welcome to the real world! Along with others; it's so good you escaped with hubby. Greetings to him too. Actually I live just outside Oxford as well... (a beautiful city and a lovely part of the country!).
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  20

  Clarifying This Weeks Watchtower...CTR Reference

  by freemindfade in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  what the sunday watchtard said.... in 1876, an article written by charles taze russell was published in the magazine bible examiner.

  that article, gentile times: when do they end?, pointed to 1914 as a significant year.

  the article linked the seven times of daniels prophecy with the appointed times of the nations spoken of by jesus.. what gentile times: when do they end?

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  Half banana

  The formula for Watchtower success was printing books and magazines propagandising their divine prescience in foretelling 1914. Russell was gravely disappointed when the expectations failed to appear, he got it completely wrong. Back then the world was to have been ‘cleansed’ of God’s enemies by 1914 (what a dream of Bible thumping rhetoric!). All subsequent date failures are a familiar history. The remaining Watchtower hope was predicting that Armageddon was to be during the life-time of those who witnessed 1914...and that too is now dead.

  The 1914 donkey, has been flogged to death...yet clearly there are plans afoot to have it stuffed and have bright new glass eyes inserted to pass it off as a living animal. There is nothing else the Watchtower publishing company can do in their desperate attempt to create the illusion they are divinely inspired.

  Since everything they say is either wrong or misleading, they can only try and revive the lie which helped them in the past. The lie of 1914.
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  12

  JW org: all take and no give?

  by Half banana in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just a thought here, prompted by oppostates thread on magazine money owed to the org..

  if an average congregation coughs up $3500 per year just on mags alone... and there are 114,416 congs world-wide; that would mean that jw suckers are feeding the ravenous maw of the org by $400,456,000 (heading towards half a billion dollars) each year.

  this does not include other literature, or ...money so cleverly pledged in perpetuity for khs that the punters will never own even if they pay for them and build them, not to mention the vast income from property appreciation and major stock investments... and then there is the shameless raiding of family inheritances plus other sundry monies gifted to them..

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  Half banana

  Cos £3500 per year x no of congs (114,416) is the amount of WT income from magazines only based on one cong. Iggy's comment is that his congregation gives $1200 per month ($14,400 per year) from all literature and including "pledged" money.

  I wonder if this is representative of donations and literature payments for the average congregation?

  I assume that even the poorest congs in the third world buy literature at the same volume and price as the richer ones do but are they able to pay the pledged amount at $200 p/m?
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  37

  The local hall just got fleeced for $15,000!

  by My Name is of No Consequence in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  the local hall recently sold some property to the state for a road improvement project that is sorely needed.

  they received about $20,000.

  guess what?

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  Half banana

  By promoting the hive mentality, they are not called the Borg for nothing!
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  12

  JW org: all take and no give?

  by Half banana in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just a thought here, prompted by oppostates thread on magazine money owed to the org..

  if an average congregation coughs up $3500 per year just on mags alone... and there are 114,416 congs world-wide; that would mean that jw suckers are feeding the ravenous maw of the org by $400,456,000 (heading towards half a billion dollars) each year.

  this does not include other literature, or ...money so cleverly pledged in perpetuity for khs that the punters will never own even if they pay for them and build them, not to mention the vast income from property appreciation and major stock investments... and then there is the shameless raiding of family inheritances plus other sundry monies gifted to them..

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  Half banana

  I wanted to play it conservatively showing what the org gets just from the mags ...but if your cong is representative Iggy, and all congs send in cash to the society at your amount that would make (1200x 12= 14,400 per year per congregation ( x 114,416 congos) = $1,646,590,400. That means aside from investments, interest and shameless raiding family inheritances, they can expect donations of over one and a half billion Dollars.

  This means it is looking more like heading for the two billion Dollar mark when all is added in.

  Has anyone got hold of the operating figures as Blondie asks...has anyone further insight into average congregation literature and other donations?